disneythemeparksfandomcom-20200214-history
Main Street Electrical Parade
The Main Street Electrical Parade is a regularly scheduled parade, created by Bob Jani and project director Ron Miziker, famous for its long run at Disneyland at the Disneyland Resort most summers between 1972–1974, 1977–1982, and 1985-1996. It features floats and live performers covered in thousands of electronically controlled lights, and a synchronized soundtrack triggered by radio control along key areas of the parade route. The parade has also inspired many other versions that ran or continue to run at Disney parks around the world. Currently, the original parade runs at Disneyland Park as The Main Street Electrical Parade, and an updated version runs at Tokyo Disneyland as Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade: DreamLights. The song is notable for its use of the vocoder voice effect, saying the lines, "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, Disneyland proudly presents our spectacular festival pageant of nighttime magic and imagination in thousands of sparkling lights and electro-synthe-magnetic musical sounds. The Main Street Electrical Parade!" Near the end, it repeats, "Disneyland's Main Street Electrical Parade!" It was announced on February 10, 2010 that the Main Street Electrical Parade would return to the Magic Kingdom for a limited time as part of their Summer Nightastic! entertainment package. The Disney's Electrical Parade at Disney's California Adventure ended its run on April 18, 2010, to be moved to Florida. While it was originally planned that it would return to Disney's California Adventure in the winter, Disney announced on July 29, 2010 that it will be extended to an "open ended" run at the Magic Kingdom. On August 10, 2016, Disney announced that the parade would be ending its run at The Magic Kingdom and would be returning to Disneyland Park starting in early 2017. The parade had its last run at The Magic Kingdom on October 9, 2016. On January 19, 2017, a special ticketed event took place at Disneyland Park, as guests who attended saw the parade one day before its public debut back at Disneyland Park for the first time since November 25, 1996. The next day, the parade officially returned to Disneyland Park for the first time in 20 years. It was scheduled to run until June 18, 2017, but was extended to August 20, 2017 on March 31, 2017 by popular demand. History The predecessor to the Main Street Electrical Parade is the Electrical Water Pageant, a show made up of seven 25-foot (7.6 m) tall screens with electrical lights placed on them. The screens are placed on a string of seven barges that travel around the Seven Seas Lagoon in front of the Magic Kingdom at the Walt Disney World Resort, beginning at 9 p.m. at Disney's Polynesian Resort or immediately after the fireworks if they are scheduled for 9 p.m. The Electrical Water Pageant still shows today. It has been showing since October 26, 1971, just weeks after the Walt Disney World Resort opened. In 1972, when the Main Street Electrical Parade debuted, some of the floats were flat screens on rolling platforms similar to the Electrical Water Pageant. The engineers who helped create the parade also created the first show-control program in existence. This allowed the 2,000-foot (610 m) long parade route to contain multiple radio-activated "trigger zones." Using radio-activated triggers as each float entered a zone, the audience would hear float-specific music through the park's audio system. Each zone was between 70 and 100 feet (30 m) long, and the zoned system meant that every person watching the parade would experience the same show, no matter where they stood along the parade route. Until 1977, some of the floats, like the elephant train and the American flag finale, were 2D and had to be pulled or pushed along the parade route. The Blue Fairy float was a 3D float, and ran until closing. The Big Bass Drum pulled by the Casey Jr. Engine, the Cinderella float and canope, a Chinese dragon (later replaced by Pete's Dragon), and the circus calliope were all 3D. The Main Street Electrical Parade had counterparts of the same name and layout at the Magic Kingdom in the Walt Disney World Resort, which ran from 1977 to 1991. It was replaced by a similar parade called SpectroMagic, which ran from 1991 to 1999 and then reopened in 2001 and ended on June 4, 2010. In 1992, the electrical parade from the Magic Kingdom went to Parc Disneyland at Disneyland Paris and ran there until 2003. It was then replaced by Fantillusion, a nighttime parade from Tokyo Disneyland that had earlier replaced the Tokyo version of the Main Street Electrical Parade, which ran from 1985-1995. Tokyo Disneyland's current night parade, Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade: DreamLights began in 2001, and it was a return to the style of the original with updated new music and floats. The Main Street Electrical Parade closed in Disneyland in 1996 after a 24-year run. Light bulbs certified as having been part of the show were sold to collectors. The replacement show, Light Magic, opened in 1997 and was an immediate failure. Disney quickly cancelled Light Magic, but held off in bringing back the popular Main Street Electrical Parade. However, the parade was refurbished and appeared at the Magic Kingdom in May 1999 for a limited engagement, just in time for the resort's Millennium Celebration. The parade ended its run at the Magic Kingdom on April 1, 2001, and SpectroMagic was brought back the following day. The Main Street Electrical Parade floats were then sent back to California for the parade's return to Disneyland. These plans changed after Team Disney Anaheim saw the poor attendance figures for the spring break season at Disney's California Adventure and feared that the park would fail to attract large crowds during the crucial summer season unless they had a big draw. So, on April 25, 2001, Disney announced that the popular Main Street Electrical Parade would be coming to Disney's California Adventure Park on July 2, 2001 in honor of the first summer of the park. The name of the show was changed from the Main Street Electrical Parade to Disney's Electrical Parade. Most of the 1996 parade floats returned, except for the Pinocchio Pleasure Island section and Snow White diamond mine float, which were sent to Parc Disneyland at Disneyland Paris in 1997. The parade was offered during summer periods and selected weekends. It finished a nine-month hiatus during the 2005 off-season at the Disneyland Resort, which allowed replacement of lights on all of the floats and alteration of wording on the drum to "Disney's Electrical Parade, Presented by Sylvania." On the 2008 Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade special, Disney announced that a Tinkerbell float would be added to Disney's Electrical Parade, which would make it the first new float to be added to the classic parade in 20 years, since the temporary Mickey Mouse's 60th Birthday float in 1988. It was announced on April 24, 2009 at a press conference that the Snow White and Pinocchio units would be returning as well. Disney started testing updated and new units in late May 2009. Most of the major floats have had new LED pixie dust effects added to them. This parade, with the new Tinkerbell float replacing the Blue Fairy, made its formal premiere on June 12, 2009. California's caterpillar received a new digital face in December 2009. One of the original turtle floats from the Main Street Electrical Parade was on display at the "technology section" of the D23 Expo. Disney's Electrical Parade at California Adventure ended its run on April 18, 2010 and returned to The Magic Kingdom as "The Main Street Electrical Parade." On August 10, 2016, Disney announced that the parade would be ending its run at The Magic Kingdom and would be returning to Disneyland Park starting in early 2017. The parade had its last run at The Magic Kingdom on October 9, 2016. On January 19, 2017, a special ticketed event took place at Disneyland Park, as guests who attended saw the parade one day before its public debut back at Disneyland Park for the first time since November 25, 1996. The next day, the parade officially returned to Disneyland Park for the first time in 20 years. It was scheduled to run until June 18, 2017, but was extended to August 20, 2017 on March 31, 2017 by popular demand. Music The Main Street Electrical Parade's underlying theme song is entitled "Baroque Hoedown." The original version was created in 1967 by early synthesizer pioneers Jean-Jacques Perrey and Gershon Kingsley. Originally, the parade's soundtrack had the same themes as the current recording, but was a different arrangement by Jim Christensen and Paul Beaver. In 1977, it was updated and arranged by electronic music artist Don Dorsey and Jack Wagner at Jack Wagner Studio, which was used until January 2009 in Disney's Electrical Parade. The various float-specific counter-music heard throughout the parade quotes other songs. For example, the music for the Pinocchio units uses the melody from the song "I've Got No Strings" from Disney's Pinocchio ''film, while the music for the To Honor America units quotes several American patriotic songs. When the parade returned to Disney's California Adventure in June 2009, it began using the updated, orchestrated DreamLights soundtrack from Tokyo, but with changes made, as certain floats in the California parade are not included in the Tokyo parade. The soundtrack for the current version, the 2009 version of Disney's Electrical Parade, The Main Street Electrical Parade (currently running at the Magic Kingdom), as well as Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade DreamLights version, were arranged, programmed, and performed by Gregory Smith. Mr. Smith also arranged the music for Disneyland's Remember... Dreams Come True show (which also contains a snippet of the original Don Dorsey arrangement, which then concludes in a grand orchestral finale arranged by Mr. Smith) and Magical: Disney's New Nighttime Spectacular of Magical Celebrations fireworks shows. Don Dorsey used the following synthesizers to create the soundtrack: Moog Model III, Mini-Moog, Steiner-Parker Synthacon, Oberheim 8-voice, Sequential Circuits Prophet-5, Fender Rhodes Piano, New England Digital Synclavier II, Bode 7702 Vocoder, Roland MKS-80 Super Jupiter, Yamaha DX7, and Yamaha TX7. Jack Wagner provides the synthesized vocoder voice for the intro and outro to the parade. Don Dorsey took over after Wagner died in 1995 by adding the word "Disney" to the introduction and outro of Disney's Electrical Parade in Disney California Adventure Park. When the parade visited the Magic Kingdom in 1999, Bill Rodgers provided the synthesized vocoder announcement. While the original soundtrack is played solely on synthesizers, the Tokyo Disneyland version utilizes a full orchestra with adult, teenage, and children choirs in addition to harmonies and synthesizers. This version also includes character voices in both English and Japanese. This version was also orchestrated, programmed, conducted, and performed by Gregory Smith. During the Christmas season at Tokyo Disneyland, the Electrical Parade gets a new soundtrack; it is mostly the same soundtrack with added Christmas songs, mixed in with the theme music. The version of Disney's Electrical Parade at Disney California Adventure park and the current Main Street Electrical Parade at Disneyland Park utilizes much of the soundtrack created for DreamLights, with new loops created for the Cinderella, Pinocchio, and To Honor America units. However, the new soundtrack retains a more electronic sound than that of Tokyo's in that many of the orchestral parts of the DreamLights soundtrack have been replaced by synthesizers in this version. A new loop was created for the Dumbo sequence; however, this sequence was cut from the parade. Remixes, Samples, and Parodies *A remix of the Electrical Parade (called the Retro Future Remix) was released on Dance Dance Revolution Disney Mix, and contains audio resamplings from the Apollo 8 reading of Genesis. *In Japan, Walt Disney Records released a CD called ''DJ Digs Main Street Electrical Parade which featured the theme music remixed by Japanese DJs. *The Japan only House☆Disney album, also released by Walt Disney Records, contains a remix of the song by famous Japanese DJ Shinichi Osawa. *The album Eurobeat Disney 3, also only released in Japan, was done by the group A-Beat Power and features a remix of the song in Eurobeat style. *In 1998, a Disney Tribute Album entitled We Love Mickey ~Happy 70th Anniversary, featuring covers of Disney songs by Japanese artists, included a remake by The Eccentric Opera. The track uses samples from Dorsey's arrangement and Snow White. Lyrics appear to be in German and are from an unknown source. *A "Celtic"-inspired version was heard in the Main Street Electrical Parade's replacement Light Magic. Light Magic ran for one summer, never to return again. *In'' The Simpsons episode "Selma's Choice," Lisa could be seen dancing in a dazed state in front of the Duff Gardens Light Parade, with a musical takeoff of Main Street Electrical Parade Theme & Background music. *A cover version by They Might Be Giants was also released on the Disneymania 2 album. *A parody of the parade can be found during the ending credits of Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars and Paper Mario. *In "I, Brobot," an episode of the Disney Channel television series ''Phineas and Ferb, the titular characters create robotic versions of themselves, which then dance to a song with a melody similar to Baroque Hoedown. *A cover version of Baroque Hoedown by ska band Reel Big Fish was included on the Japanese album Dive into Disney. *A tribute to the vintage Main Street Electrical Parade was recorded "old school style" by Jim Presley for Jiminy's Limited Editions entitled "Jiminy Salutes The Main Street Electrical Parade." *The vocaloid producer DaniwellP created a remix of the Electrical Parade using Hatsune Miku. Parade Versions Main Street Electrical Parade (Disneyland) Park: Disneyland Original Run: '''June 17, 1972 - November 25, 1996 '''Second Run: January 20, 2017 - August 20, 2017 Sponsors: Energizer (1972–1985) General Electric (1985–1996) Opening Announcement: '''"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls! Disneyland proudly presents our spectacular festival pageant of nighttime magic and imagination. In thousands of sparkling lights, and electro-synthe-magnetic musical sounds: the Main Street Electrical Parade!" '''Floats *Blue Fairy (1972-1996) *Casey Jr. Circus Engine *Alice in Wonderland **Mushroom with Butterfly and Ladybug **Snails **White Rabbit **Mushroom with Alice and Cheshire Cat **Fireflies **Mushroom with The Caterpillar and Frog (originally a butterfly) **Turtles **Centipede *Cinderella **Pumpkin Coach **Ballroom **Cinderella's Ball w/ Prince Charming and stepsisters **Clock Tower *Peter Pan (1985–2017) **Pirate Ship w/ Captain Hook and Peter Pan **Smee's Boat w/ Mr. Smee **Silvermist, Iridessa, Rosetta and Vidia (2017) **Tinker Bell (2017) *Dumbo's Circus (1972-1996) **Hippo and King Leonidas Calliope **Four Ring Circus with Dumbo and Clown (split into two parts) **Bear Balancing on Barrels **Elephant Bathing *Briny Deep/Pinocchio Underwater (1977–Spring '83) *Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1985–2017) **Dopey's Mine Train with Dopey, Snow White, Doc, Grumpy, and Sneezy **Dwarf Mine with Happy, Sleepy, and Bashful *Pinocchio on Pleasure Island (1985–2017) **Funhouse Face and Pleasure Island Part 1 (Part 2, 2017)(1985-2017) **Pinocchio and Donkey boys walking in front of Funhouse Face and Pleasure Island (2017) **Pleasure Island Part 2 with Pinocchio and Lampwick (1985-1996) *Sleeping Beauty Dragon (1972) (later changed to Chinese Dragon) *Pete's Dragon (1977–2017, replaced Chinese Dragon) *Return To Oz (1985) *Disneyland's 25th Anniversary (1980) (replica of Sleeping Beauty Castle) *Mickey Mouse's 60th Birthday (1988) *It's a Small World (1972–1988) *Disneyland's 35th Anniversary (1990) (logo float) *To Honor America (1979–2017) *Disney Neon Finale (1977–1978) with a series of rotating mirrors and adorned with various neon-lit Disney characters. These include: **Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, and Eeyore **Peter Pan, Captain Hook, and Mr. Smee **Bambi, Thumper, and Flower **Bernard, Bianca, and Orville *Fox and the Hound (1981) Disney's Electrical Parade Park: Disney's California Adventure Original Run: July 3, 2001 - April 18, 2010 Sponsor: Sylvania (2006–2010) Opening Announcement: "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls! Disney proudly presents our spectacular festival pageant of nighttime magic and imagination. In thousands of sparkling lights, and electro-synthe-magnetic musical sounds: Disney's Electrical Parade!" Floats *Tinker Bell (2009–2010) *Blue Fairy (2001–2009) *Casey Jr. Circus Engine w/ Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy *Alice in Wonderland **Mushroom with Butterfly and Ladybug **Snails **Mushroom with Alice and Cheshire Cat **Fireflies **Mushroom with The Caterpillar with Frog **Turtles **Centipede *Cinderella **Pumpkin Coach **The Royal Ball **The Staircase **Clock Tower *Peter Pan **Pirate Ship **Smee's Boat *Dumbo's Circus (2001–2009) **Hippo and King Leonidas Calliope **Four Ring Circus with Dumbo and Clowns **Bear Balancing on Barrels **Elephant Bathing *Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs **Dopey's Mine Train **Diamond Mine (2009–2010) *Pinocchio (2009–2010) **Funhouse Face and Pleasure Island Part 1 **Pleasure Island Part 2 w/ Pinocchio and Donkey Boy *Elliott, Pete's Dragon *To Honor America Main Street Electrical Parade (Walt Disney World) Park: '''Magic Kingdom '''Original Run: '''June 11, 1977 - September 14, 1991 '''Second Run: May 28, 1999 - April 1, 2001 Third Run: '''June 6, 2010 – October 9, 2016 '''Opening Announcement (1977–1991): "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls! Walt Disney World proudly presents our spectacular festival pageant of nighttime magic and imagination. In thousands of sparkling lights, and electro-synthe-magnetic musical sounds: the Main Street Electrical Parade!" Opening Announcement (1999–2001) & (2010–2016): "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls! The Magic Kingdom proudly presents our spectacular festival pageant of nighttime magic and imagination. In thousands of sparkling lights, and electro-synthe-magnetic musical sounds: the Main Street Electrical Parade!" Floats *Tinkerbell (2010–2016) *Blue Fairy (1977–2001) *Casey Jr. Circus Engine with Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse and Goofy (1977–2016) *Alice in Wonderland (1977–2016) **Mushroom with Butterfly and Ladybug **Snails **White Rabbit **Mushroom with Alice and Cheshire Cat **Fireflys **Mushroom with The Caterpillar with Frog **Turtles **Centipede *Cinderella's Ball (1977–2016) **Pumpkin Coach w/ Cinderella and Fairy Godmother **Canopies **Staircase and Prince Charming **Clock Tower * Peter Pan (1999–2016) ** Pirate Ship ** Mr. Smee *Dumbo's Circus (1977–2001) **Hippo and King Leonidas Calliope **Four Ring Circus with Dumbo and Clown (1999–2001) **Bear Balancing on Barrels **Elephant Bathing *Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1999–2016) **Dopey's Mine Train **Diamond Mine (2010–2016) *Pinocchio (2010–2016) **Pleasure Island Unit Part 1 Pinocchio, Lampwick, and Donkey Boys **Pleasure Island Unit Part 2 (face and Ice cream cones) *Pete's Dragon (1977–2016) *Swan Lake (TBA) **Mother Swan **Baby Swans *It's A Small World (1977–1991) *Disney Neon Finale (1977, TBA) *To Honor America (1979–2016) Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade Park: '''Tokyo Disneyland '''Original Run: March 9, 1985 - June 21, 1995 Sponsor: Nihon Unisys, Ltd. Opening Announcement: '''"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls! Walt Disney proudly presents our spectacular festival pageant of nighttime magic and imagination. In thousands of sparkling lights and electro-synthe-maginetic musical sounds: Tokyo Disneyland's Electrical Parade!" '''Floats *Blue Fairy *Casey Jr. Circus Engine with Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy *Toy Soldiers from Babes in Toyland (1961 film) *Alice in Wonderland **Mushroom with Butterfly and Ladybug **Snails **Mushroom with Alice and Cheshire Cat **Fireflys **Mushroom with Butterfly and Frog **Turtles **Centipede *Swan Lake **Mother Swan **Baby Swans *Cinderella **Pumpkin Coach **Ballroom **Clock Tower *Peter Pan **Pirate Ship *Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs **Diamond Mine *Dumbo's Circus **Hippo and King Leonidas Calliope **Bear Balancing on Barrels **Elephant Bathing *Pete's Dragon *It's a Small World Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade: DreamLights Park: '''Tokyo Disneyland '''Original Run: June 17, 2001 - Present Sponsor: Nihon Unisys, Ltd. Opening Announcement: '''"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls! Tokyo Disneyland proudly presents our most spectacular pageant of nighttime dreams and fantasy. In millions of sparkling lights, and brilliant musical sounds: Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade: DreamLights!" '''Floats *Opening Window **Blue Fairy **Knights of Light **Mickey's Dreamlights Train (with Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, and Goofy) *Alice in Wonderland **Alice and Cheshire Cat *Flowers *Lady Bug *Butterflies *Inchworm (2001–2011) *Mr. and Mrs. Snail *Peter Pan **Captain Hook's Pirate Ship *Snow White **Snow White **Dwarf's Diamond Mine Train (Retired in 2011) *Disney's Aladdin (Added in 2011) **Genie **Aladdin and Jasmine *Pooh and His Friends **Winnie the Pooh (Disney), Tigger, Eeyore **Bees *Toy Story **Woody's Round-up - Woody, Jessie, Bullseye (Retired in 2011) **Buzz Lightyear (retired in 2011) **Toy Story 3 float (Added in 2011) *Pete's Dragon **Elliot *Monsters Inc. (Added in 2007) **Sulley, Mike, Boo *Finding Nemo (Added in 2007) **Nemo **Crush's Current *A Bug's Life (retired in 2007, replaced by Monster's Inc. and Finding Nemo) **A Bugs Life Circus **Flik and Princess Atta *Beauty And The Beast (Retired in 2011, replaced by Aladdin) **Be Our Guest - Lumiere **Beauty and the Beast - Belle and Beast *Cinderella **Cinderella and Fairy Godmother **Pumpkin Coach with Horses (Retired) **Clock Tower **At the Ball *Disney Fairies (Added in 2011) **Tinkerbell and Friends *Swan Lake (Retired in 2011, replaced by Disney Fairies, TBA) **Mother Swan **Baby Swans *It's A Small World (Finale) **Showboat **Airship **The Moon **The Sun **Sponsor's Logo Main Street Electrical Parade (Disneyland Paris) Park: '''Disneyland Park (Paris) '''Original Run: '''April 12, 1992 - March 23, 2003 '''Sponsor: Philips (1992–2002) Opening Announcement: '''"Madames et monsieurs, et vous les enfants! Disneyland Paris est fier de vous présenter son extraordinaire festival de magie nocturne et d'enchantement, dans une féerie de milliers de lumières, sur une musique electro-synthe-magnetique: the Main Street Electrical Parade!" '''Floats *Blue Fairy *Casey Jr. Circus Engine (Mickey Minnie & Goofy, occasionally Donald or Pluto rode on the tender) *Pinocchio (1998–2003) **Funhouse Face and Pleasure Island Part 1 **Pleasure Island Part 2 *Alice in Wonderland **Mushroom with Butterfly and Ladybug **Snails **Mushroom with Alice and Cheshire Cat **Fireflys **Mushroom with The Caterpillar and Frog (originally a butterfly) **Turtles **Centipede *Swan Lake (1997–2003) **Mother Swan **Baby Swans *Cinderella **Pumpkin Coach **Ballroom **Cinderella's Ball **Clock Tower *Dumbo's Circus **Hippo and King Leonidas Calliope **Bear Balancing on Barrels **Elephant Bathing *Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1998–2003) **Dwarf Mine *Pete's Dragon *It's a Small World (1992) Sources & External Links *Wikipedia Category:Parades Category:Entertainment Category:Walt Disney World entertainment Category:Magic Kingdom entertainment Category:Former Disneyland entertainment Category:Former Disneyland Paris entertainment Category:Tokyo Disneyland entertainment Category:Walt Disney Parks and Resorts parades Category:Former parades